most amply share in them at this moment. What! do the tradesmen and their wives think to flaunt about in their buggys, while the farmer resumes the walking-stick and woollen spatterdashes, and his wife, as formerly, brings her butter and eggs to market, with a clean apron in her basket, to be folded up again as soon as the market is over? Do the tradesmen's daughters think, that they are to continue to be misses, while those of the farmer are to come down to Moll and Bess? Do the former suppose that their pretty ancles are to be set off with silk, while those of the latter are to be wrapped round with worsted? No faith, Miss Crispin must do as her grandmother did; she must put on black stockings, pin up her gown tail, boil the pot, and, instead of having a servant to wait on her, must prepare for the service of others. All has been sublimated, and, if the farmers come down, all must come down. Aye, and John Bowles and Southey, and Walter Scott must find their level as well as the rest. The chariot-riding proprietor of the Times must return to the humble trade of his father; John Bowles must write last-dying-speeches and confessions; Southey must make and sing his own ballads, and Walter Scott write Christmas carols and new histories of the Children in the Wood.

I am, Sir, your most obedient servant,

WM. COBBETT.

TO THE

CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER.

(Political Register, December, 1815.)

LETTER IV.

Something to be done still.-Marquis of Buckingham and Mr. Benett. -Another branch of a Real Remedy pointed out.

SIR,

Farnham, 30th Nov. 1815.

Seeing that you must naturally be anxious to know what is the full amount of the REMEDY, which I have to propose to you for the evils, which now torment the country, which fill the jails with farmers, which keep the landlord's pockets empty, and which produce so much employment for the coroners and their juries, I should hasten to apologize to you for the lapse of two weeks in my correspondence. But, Sir, there are others, other individuals than you, and other classes than the yeomanry cavalry, who are entitled to my attention. The canting governor of

Massachusetts, who, in a speech to the legislative assembly, called the friends and restorers of Ferdinand and Louis "the bulwark of religion,” required to be reminded of it, at a moment when the Inquisition was in activity in Spain, and when the Protestants in France were complaining of their throats being cut. Besides, these loggerheaded farmers and their landlords have no claim to any preference. Their time of suffering is come; but, let them have patience; let them wait my pleasure, as they applaudingly saw so many Jacobins wait the pleasure of those, whom, for so

many years, they, the loggerheads and their landlords, supported. These men discovered no impatience while the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act kept so many men in jail, for so many years, without ever being brought to trial, and even without their offence being specifically made known to them. They, so far from disapproving of such measures, applauded them; they voluntarily armed themselves and came forth with prancing horses and glittering helmets to support those who adopted these measures. They said that the sufferings of the Jacobins were necessary to the safety of the nation and the upholding of the throne. Adopting, therefore, their own sentiment, I call upon them to be patient under their suffering. Let them keep the public tranquillity and prosperity of the church and the throne constantly in their eye, and, so long as these objects are secured, let them think nothing of losing their property and going to jail.

It is curious to observe what a taste for reading this race of men have, all of a sudden, acquired. While their purses were full, they contented themselves with the singing of loyal songs and getting drunk at market They hated the Jacobins so much that they would not read a word of their writings. It is curious to see how they now come sneaking to endeavour to get a paper that is out of print in order to hear a little about these Remedies. I am sure I have not flattered them much, and that I do not mean to do; but, yet, they are become very keen readers. They honour me with a tolerably large portion of their hatred; but, they have so much at stake; they are pinched so hard; they suffer so acutely; they are so full of apprehension for the future, that they cannot refrain from asking what I now think. If there were a Gipsy, who could tell them their fortune, for two-pence and a mug of beer, as truly as I can, they would not expend a shilling or two in Registers. But, they know, that the truth is to be bought only at this shop; and, the time is now come, when men in general are sincerely disposed to get at the truth.

Since the date of my last letter to you, the Peace has been announced. But, how dull, how mournful the scene! No bonfires in the countrytowns and in the villages. No illuminations, except Ex-Officio in London. No feasting. No roasting of whole, and almost of live, oxen, sheep, and hogs. No temples of victory in the Green Park, nor sham sea-defeats of the Americans on the Serpentine River. What can be the cause of this, Sir? Is this peace? Yes; it really is peace; but, it is peace under such dismal circumstances as to shut up the hearts of the people against every feeling of joy. The shoutings of war and of victory are over. The drunken nation has had time to take a short nap and it is now, half-reeling, half-sober, half-sick, half-well, called upon for the reckoning. With muddy head and trembling hand, qualmish and gloomy, the animating fumes of the liquor gone, and its deleterious dregs only remaining, the late boisterous, bottle-bold nation, is sunk into that state, which, in the case of individuals, produces a resort to rope and rat's bane. Every one you meet, no matter where, still keeps observing that 'something must be done;" but, strange to say, that at the very moment that Peace is proclaiming, every one appears to hope for war! Don't you think that there will be war?" is a question that every man puts to his neighbour. War with France; war with America; war with somebody; and, it would seem, no matter with whom, or on what ground. If this hope and expectation were confined to persons of the naval and military professions, it would be different; but they extend themselves

through the whole mass of the community. Every one wishes for and expects war, because he feels, that, as we are, in point of taxes, we cannot go on in peace. The landlord may lower his rents; but that, if general, would not produce any general good, and if partial, as it will certainly be, must do harm. I give those landlords, who have voluntarily lowered their rents, credit for good intention, but I do not give them much credit for wisdom. The Remedy must be general; it must be a legal remedy, and must apply impartially to all men; all rents, all debts, all dues, all obligations between man and man; or it will only tend to add to the confusion, which already exists, and which is every day receiving an accession of strength.

From the rumours that I have heard, I should suppose that some such remedy was in contemplation. The MARQUIS of BUCKINGHAM, it is said, has told his tenants, that, when Parliament meets, some measures may be brought forward to relieve them. I have my information upon this head, from the Salisbury and Winchester Journal of the 13th inst. which contained the following paragraph: It is reported, that the tenants of the "Marquis of Buckingham have sent in a petition, urging the necessity of a reduction of their rents, on the score of the low price of produce, "to which the answer given was, that the Marquis could not, at present, say anything to it; but that, on the Meeting of Parliament, some mea64 sure WOULD be brought forward, which might relieve them!"

Now, Sir, whether this be authentic, or whether it be a charitable invention of the proprietor of this paper to keep up, for a little longer, the spirits of his gaping, though greedy race of readers, I shall not pretend to determine. But, upon the supposition, that the statement be correct, I have to observe on it, in the first place, that the Marquis has done very right in rejecting the petition of the tenants; for, if wheat had risen to 40s. a bushel, instead of falling to 6s., and he had "sent in a petition” to them to augment their rents, can there, in the whole compass of our copious language, be formed a combination of words capable of expressing the feelings of repulsion, with which they would have received such a petition? Oh! how they would have hectored, swore, and smacked their whips! How they would have sneered; what jokes they would have cracked upon their landlord! With what contumely, with what insolence, they would have loaded him! Therefore, it was acting like a wise and just man to reject their petition; but, as to the relief, which this paragraph holds out the hope of, and which paragraph, observe, I do not impute to the Marquis, I am afraid, that the case is not quite so clear.

You will perceive, Sir, that it is stated positively, that some measures WILL be brought forward; but, it is only added, that these measures MAY relieve his Lordship's tenants. If it be any little peddling thing about taking off the tax on agricultural horses and the tenant's Propertytar and the tax on his windows and house, and the like, you may as well keep your measures to yourself; for I can assure you, that such measures, without fresh issues of paper-money at the same time, will not save one single tenant from ruin. If, indeed, you were to take off, in addition to the above, all the duties of Customs and Excise, which they and their labourers pay; if you would let them, without tax, make their own malt, candles, and soap, or buy them untaxed; if you would let them have their salt at 2s. 6d. instead of 20s. a bushel; if you would let them have sugar at 3d. a pound instead of 1s.; if you would take off the tax from their shoes, the iron, the tin, the wood, the leather, the metal of all sorts, used about

their tackle, and in their houses; if you would let them have rum and brandy and hollands at 2s. 6d. instead of 25s. a gallon; if you would suffer them to marry without a stamp-duty; if you would forbear to stamp their leases, their receipts, their bills and notes; if you would suffer the legacies of the farmer to go without deduction to his relations; if you would do all this and a great deal more, if I could think of it, then, indeed, your measures not only "might," but would, relieve the Marquis's tenants, and all the classes of the community that are now in distress from what is, whimsically enough, called the badness of the times. But, to the mere taking off of the assessed and income taxes, far preferable would it be to make each farmer a present of one of Walter Scott's humbug ballads of the "Scottish Border." This he would fling into the fire. It would not deceive him. While the hope held out by the other would probably lead him on to utter ruin.

There is a Mr. BENETT, in Wiltshire, who, sometime ago, at a meeting at Warminster, said, that, unless something was done to protect the land, he would remove, with his family, to France. The land was "protected;" the Corn Bill was passed; and the distress has been becoming greater and greater ever since. Amongst the staring, gaping, astounded crowd of landlords and farmers, this Mr. Benett, who now imputes a great part of the blame to the tithes, seems, in my mind's eye, to raise his head. Forward I thrust my arm and seize him by the ear. Come; come along out of the crowd with your book in your hand; and, while I have you by the souse, let me see whether I can drive into your head something like a correct notion of the real cause of the distress of which you complain.

As to tithes, they were levied upon your land, long before the land belonged to your ancestors. You bought the land, or it descended to you, legally charged with tithes. If, therefore, the tithes do not belong to the Church, it is very clear that they do not belong to you; but, if taken from the Church, must, in justice, revert to that community, in whose behalf (whether wisely or not) they were granted to the Church. Then, as to their effect upon the prosperity of one of your tenants, for instance, what difference is it to him, whether he pays 50l. a year more to you, under the name of rent, or 50l. to a rector or vicar, under the name of tithe ? Besides, tithes have always existed. And, have there not been good times for farmers? If tithes make farmers poor in 1815, why not give the merit of the dear years to tithes?

No, no. This is all nonsense. Your book is the effect of anger at a diminution of income; and, not being able to discover the true cause, you have seized on the old vulgar invectives against tithes, without, however, having the courage to propose to sweep away the powerful political body who are supported by those tithes. Look here now! Do you see this account? Very well. Then you see that in 1812 the country had to pay about 70 millions in taxes; and here you see, from this account, that it has nearly the same sum to pay in 1815. Now (mind what I say, or I'll pinch your ear), you see by this price-current, that, in 1812, the good guinea in gold was worth nearly 30s. in the paper in which you paid your taxes; and, by this other price-current, you see, that, in 1815, the good guinea in gold is worth only about 21s. 8d. in the paper in which you pay your taxes. Consequently, as the nominal amount of your taxes is still the same, you now pay, in reality, nearly a third more than you did in 1812, and the Government, the placemen, the judges, the army, the navy,

the Royal Family, and the fundholders, &c., &c., receive nearly one-third more, in reality, than they received in 1812. If I were not afraid of puzzling your brains, I would go on to show you, that they receive, and that you pay, a great deal more than a third more than in 1812, because, by taking any given proportion of paper, or money, out of circulation, prices of commodities must be lowered, not only in that proportion, but also in the further proportion of the multiplied powers which that money had in its movements from hand to hand.

But, so far as the third goes, the matter is quite clear to you, I hope. What nonsense is it, then, for you to rail against the tithes as the cause of the distresses of agriculture! Come, come, Mr. Benett; acknowledge your error like a candid man. Acknowledge, that it is the Government and the Bank, and not the poor Parsons, that are now working you and your tenants. If you ask me why the Government and the Bank thus work you; if you ask me why they have raised the papermoney in value so as to lower your corn in price, and, in effect, to double your taxes; if you ask me why they have done this, I can only say, that I am not so presumptuous as to judge of their motive, or, at least, to suppose them actuated by any evil motive; but, I can say very confidently, that, be their motive in doing it what it may, I am very glad they have done it. You, Mr. Benett, and the rest of the Wiltshire Petitioners for the Corn Bill, told the Government, that you had cheerfully paid all the taxes for the prosecution of the war; and, you further said, that you would continue cheerfully to pay those taxes, provided you were protected by a Corn Bill. Well, the Corn Bill was passed; you have had all the benefits of that Bill. What, then, have you, or any of you, now to complain of?

Thus, Sir, I dismiss, for the present, this Mr. Benett, who is, however, a subject to be returned to; for, to suffer such a low pretender to literary talent, such a retailer of vulgar pomposity, to pass unexposed, would be to despise the voice of justice. My Lord Buckingham is a person of a different stamp. He is a legislator, and, from his experience in stateaffairs, his opinions are entitled to great attention and respect. Therefore, without pretending to vouch for the correctness of the statement in the Salisbury Journal; and, indeed, without attaching any weight to the assertion in that paper, I will merely suppose it possible, that the Noble Marquis did tell his tenants, that, when Parliament met, some measures would be brought forward for their relief, and then I will hazard a speculation as to the character of those measures.

That there are but two ways, in which the farmers can be relieved, is, I think, quite certain; namely, lowering the value of the circulating medium; or, lowering the nominal amount of the taxes; for, as to Corn Bills, they have failed. Indeed, it was always pure folly to suppose that they would not fail. To adopt either of the two modes is a work of wonderful delicacy; and yet, something must be done," and that, too, I think, this very winter. The landlords will go up to town with very long faces. They have their taxes and the interest on their mortgages to pay. They have received little more than half as much as they used to receive. They will be out of humour. Your Noble Colleague, last from France, will have a very fine story to tell them; but what are fine stories to a man with an empty purse? They will be thinking much more about their rent-roll than about the catalogue of the Louvre. They will, doubtless, chuckle at the recital of the treatment of Napoleon and his friends. They